Crock pot black beans

Who doesn’t love coming home to delicious smelling food that requires minimal effort? I know I do. These black beans deliver, being both nutritious and really yummy. And, this is probably one of the cheapest meals ever. I think the bag of black beans was $1. The rest of the ingredients are ones that I already had in the house, so I’m going to guestimate this meal came in at under $5. A steal!

A bag of black beans will obviously make a ton, so I was able to freeze quite a few containers of beans. I recommend dividing them up into several portions so you can pull out just the amount you need. De-thawing a big block of beans for just one cup isn’t really practical. But, I think this recipe will make you stop buying canned beans all together. It is incredibly simple, makes a ton of beans, and is impossible to mess up.

I’ll share the recipe I used, but of course you can adjust it to your likings. I wanted the beans to be a bit spicy, so I added lots of peppers and cayenne.

Crock pot black beans

1 bag of dry black beans

Enough chicken stock to cover beans in crock pot

1 whole onion, chopped

1 jalepeno pepper, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

2 cloves garlic

3 pieces raw bacon

1/2 jar chopped banana peppers, with juice

1/2 jar Salsa

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp cayenne

Dash of garlic salt

Cheese & Cilantro for garnish

The day before you want to make your beans, soak them in water overnight. In a large bowl, remove beans from bag and cover with water.

In a crock pot, add soaked beans and cover with chicken stock. I used almost a full carton of chicken stock (32 ounces). Add in all your ingredients.

Stir spices into the broth.

Set crock pot for desired cook time and let it work its magic. I set my crock pot for 8 hours because I made them early in the day. Garnish with cheese and cilantro.

Come home to the delicious aroma of Mexican spices that have been simmering all day. Honestly, I could smell them from outside my house when I got home. My neighbors even asked me what I had cooking. When I told them it was just a pot of black beans, I think they were shocked.

Now if only I could get the “beans, beans good for your heart…” rhyme out of my head. Yes I’m a five year old.

With fall in full swing, I think it is definitely time you bust our your crock pots and give this meal a try. Or, here are a few of my other absolute favorite crock pot meals.